This month the Supreme Court could strike down President Obama’s historic health care law, which has sparked a fiery debate. Politics aside, many question how the law will actually change their lives since several provisions are not in place yet.

Even one of the measures of the new law that has already
been implemented doesn't seem to be reaching its target
audience.

The provision is a tax credit aimed at helping small
businesses afford pricey health insurance. John Arensmeyer, CEO of
the Small Business
Majority says in fact 57 percent of all small businesses in
California do not know about the tax credits.

Arensmeyer says this could help many small businesses that
just can't afford health insurance for their employees today. Only
about half offer any coverage at all, and he says that number keeps
dropping as health care costs continue to rise.

So is it just ignorance of the provision or are there other
reasons businesses aren't clamoring for the credits?

Cheryl Cavagnaro offers several reasons. She and her husband
have run Cavagnaro's Shoe Repair at Lincoln Center in Stockton for
about 30 years.

To start with, Cavagnaro says she's a Republican and not a fan
of what she calls "forced health care" under the Obama Plan.

Then she says there's the monumental task of figuring out the
tax code to get the credit.

"I have heard about it, yes, and I have not looked into it," she
says. "I think it's too complex."

Finally Cavagnaro says the tax credit is just not a big enough
carrot. She doesn't provide health insurance to her two part-time
employees now; she would like to hire a full-time worker, she says,
but can't afford it. The tax credit, she says, wouldn't be enough
to offset the new expenses of health care costs on top of payroll
taxes and disability insurance for another employee.

"I certainly believe it would cost me more money," she
says.

Cavagnaro's lack of enthusiasm makes sense to Sally Pipes,
president and CEO of the right-leaning think tank, Pacific Research
Institute . She says the government made the credits too
complicated.

Right now the credits target businesses with no more than 25
low-wage workers. That's why Pipes thinks few businesses signed up
in the first year. On top of that, the provision could actually
discourage growth as the business could lose the credit if it adds
employees or increases wages, she says.

"The President has actually done a disservice to the
entrepreneurial spirit by the Affordable Care Act and in particular
all of these taxes, subsidies, regulations," Pipes says.

For another business owner in downtown Stockton, though, the
credit was a godsend. Lili Williams is managing director of OSC
Computer Training. She already
provides health insurance to her eight full-time employees but says
it's been difficult to maintain that coverage.

"We have seen the costs of health care go up every year,
anywhere between 10 and 15 percent," she says.

Williams says she has been struggling to survive the aftershocks
of the recession and believes the tax credits will bring some
relief -- saving thousands of dollars on her roughly $50,000 in
annual health care expenses.

"I am thrilled about it because it does mean at least I get
something back at the end of the year, that's money that I wasn't
getting back," she says.

The government estimates so far under the program businesses
have claimed an average tax credit of $2,700 per employee.

Of course the whole debate on this issue could change
dramatically if the Supreme Court throws out the Affordable Care
Act. And for some small businesses this uncertainty is reason
enough to not apply for the credit, at least for now.

This story was produced in collaboration with theCalifornia HealthCare
Foundation Center for Health Reporting.The center, a
division of the USC Annenberg School for Communication &
Journalism, does in-depth reporting on California health policy. It
is funded by the nonpartisan California HealthCare
Foundation